PAWSOME!

By Cooper

The PAWSOME abounds when you're owned by a cat!

Newspapers may be full of doom-and-gloom headlines, but the lucky people who live with cats get to be happy each and every day! Cats make the very best companions for hundreds of reasons, including:

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gwen Cooper
• Release date: Nov 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9798986772288

Cooper

Charles Cooper "Coup" is a 50-year veteran of Christian ministry. He began preaching at age 15, pastoring at age 17, and becoming a college professor at age 26. Coup remains actively involved in Jesus Christ's kingdom-building business. He presently serves as a teaching pastor at Family Church of Central Florida and as the director of Kingdom Alive Ministries and PreWrathRapture.com.Among Coup's contributions to the cause of Jesus Christ, (1) he has authored or co-authored eight books; (2) he has written over 20 journal articles and hundreds of blog posts; (3) he has lectured in the USA, Europe, Asia, and Africa in churches, colleges, and seminaries; and (4) he has planted three churches.Born in Arkansas, Coup graduated from Ouachita Baptist University in 1982 and Dallas Theological Seminary in 1983. He was honored with the Harry A. Ironside Expository Preaching Award, given to the best exegete and preacher of the graduating class.Since becoming a communicator of God's truth at age 15, Coup has been a pastor for 31 years in addition to his other vocational responsibilities. He taught homiletics and hermeneutics at the Moody Bible Institute for six years. He was also an instructor, biblical research, and education consultant for Sola Scriptura - an organization dedicated to affirming the Bible's authenticity, accuracy, and authority as the standard for truth - for eight years.Coup maintains an active speaking, consulting, and training ministry worldwide. Coup lives in Winter Garden with his wife, Sondra, and they have one daughter.

Book preview

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Praise for Homer's Odyssey

Touching…one not to miss.

—USA Today

This memoir about adopting a special-needs kitten teaches that sometimes in life, you have to take a blind leap.

—People

Cooper is a genial writer with a gift for conveying the inner essence of an animal.

—The Christian Science Monitor

"Delightful…This lovely human-feline memoir, following in the footsteps of Vicki Myron’s bestselling Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, is sure to warm the hearts of all pet lovers."

—Library Journal

Well written with…tenderness and realism…Your life will be richer for having taken this journey with [Gwen and Homer].

—I Love Cats magazine

Praise for My Life in a Cat House

This book perfectly encapsulates the unique and amazing experience of being owned by cats and the joy they bring into our lives. That alone is reason enough to read it.

—James Bowen, international bestselling author of A Street Cat Named Bob

"Cooper, who charmed readers with the best-selling memoir of her intrepid blind cat, Homer’s Odyssey, returns with escapades of other past and present felines. Cooper’s witty, breezy writing, her unabashed love of felines, and her admission that her spoiled cats have trained her will delight and resonate with cat people."

—Library Journal

"Fans of Homer’s Odyssey will rejoice upon hearing that Homer's owner, Cooper, has returned with more true cat stories...both hilarious and deeply moving. Readers...will delight in these anecdotes of cats who seemingly have something to say about everything. Fans of Vicky Myron and Brett Witter's Dewey and James Bowen's A Street Cat Named Bob will be highly satisfied."

—Booklist

"If you’ve ever lived with a cat, then this book is for you … In My Life in a Cat House, Cooper lovingly and humorously depicts the ups and downs of a life with cats and the ways in which they mimic human behavior and feelings. A fun read for all animal lovers."

—New York Journal of Books

A literary fur fix for Homer fans!

—Catster magazine

As Gwen shares the joys, sorrows, laughter and tears of sharing her life with her cats, both past and present, you will find yourself nodding in recognition and perhaps remember the antics of a cat long gone. You may even gain a deeper understanding of your own feline companions.

—The Conscious Cat

Gwen has the uncanny ability to touch our hearts with her gift of conveying thought-provoking and heart-stirring emotions…Gwen's writing is unpretentious, it’s authentic, it’s REAL. Whether like me you have nearly all of Gwen's books, or if this one is your first, you will delight in her descriptive, often hilarious and loving stories about her cats.

—Cat Chat with Caren and Cody

"There's something about Gwen Cooper's cat books that touch my heart like few others, and My Life in a Cat House is no exception. Whether you've enjoyed every one of Gwen's cat books or this is your first, snuggle up with a cat or two while you're reading. I guarantee with each turn of the page you'll pull them just a little bit closer as you realize just how empty your life would be without their unconditional love."

—Melissa’s Mochas, Mysteries and Meows

Gwen Cooper is the Queen of Cat Love—and in these fun and frisky stories, she perfectly captures all the reasons felines rule our hearts and our homes. No cat lover should be without this book, but more important, give it to the folks who haven’t yet seen the light. At least they’ll understand us better!

—Sy Montgomery, bestselling author of How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals

What a pleasure to read [Gwen Cooper’s] beautiful stories, brimming with her cat-love and even more important her ability to get you to actually see her cats . . . You will want to see more and more. She can become your next obsession, as she has become mine!

—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, international bestselling author of The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats

Praise for Love Saves the Day

Prudence is a sassy but sensitive feline heroine.

—Time

Once again Gwen Cooper shines her light on the territory that defines the human/animal bond.

—Jackson Galaxy, star of My Cat From Hell

Hauntingly beautiful, heart touching, and at times painfully raw. This book will stay with you long after you turn the final page.

—The Conscious Cat

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Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat

Homer: The Ninth Life of a Blind Wonder Cat

Homer and the Holiday Miracle

Spray Anything: More True Tale of Homer & the Gang

My Life in a Cat House: True Tales of Love, Laughter, and Living with Five Felines

The 10th Anniversary Homer's Odyssey Scrapbook

YOU are PAWSOME! 75 Reasons Why Your Cats Love You, and Why Loving Them Back Makes You a Better Human

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Copyright © 2020 by Gwen Cooper

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Originally published in paperback in the United States by Interrobang Books as The Book of PAWSOME! Head Bonks, Raspy Tongues, and 101 Reasons Why Cats Make Us So, So Happy in 2020.

Cooper, Gwen.

PAWSOME: Head bonks, raspy tongues, and 101 reasons why cats make us so, so happy.

ISBN 979-8643284161

Nonfiction; humor; pets

Illustrations by Jessica Rodrigue

Cover design by 100 Covers

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It was back in mid-February of 2020—almost exactly one month to the day before the world began to shut down—when I was browsing through a bookstore and spotted a title that, despite its having been a big bestseller, I’d never heard of.

It was by someone named Neil Parischa and was called The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things. From a marketing perspective it was a brilliant title, insofar as I immediately and intuitively grasped what the book was about. And, just as immediately, I wondered, Why isn’t there a Book of PAWsome about cats?

And so it was that this book was born.

There aren’t any hard-and-fast rules governing either the specific entries or the lengths of those entries in this book, aside from my gut feeling that each entry is as long or short as it ought to be. The entries in the first section, however—which is dedicated to capturing the joy in specific moments with cats, as opposed to certain qualities that cats have—tend to be a bit shorter.

I also tried to avoid being too explain-y for the most part. There are plenty of books out there that will tell you the whys and wherefores about the ways in which cats behave, and I wasn’t seeking to duplicate their efforts.

Last but not least, I also made a commitment to playing it straight. In other words, while this book is certainly (raspy) tongue-in-cheek, it’s never sarcastic. Even when an entry seems to dwell on one of the very few alleged negatives of living with a cat—the way, for example, a cat will rip up toilet paper just when it’s become extremely difficult to find—I, personally, am always more genuinely tickled than annoyed when my cats shred paper goods. And since it’s something cats do that makes me laugh, I included it in the book.

Ultimately, what I hope is that you, too, will enjoy a good chuckle when you read these pages, and find a little of the joy in everyday things—and in every day we get to spend with our cats—that can sometimes seem elusive. I’m an incurable optimist, something I inherited from my grandmother, and I always do believe that, with our cats by our sides, better days lie ahead for all of us.

Optimism is also something I get from my cats, who never seem less than 100% certain that another bag of Greenies is waiting for them at the end of the rainbow…

PAWSOME!

Contents

When your cat is completely hidden under the bed…except for the little tail that’s sticking out

When your cat pats you very gently with her paw to get your attention

When you wake up early on a Sunday morning to feed your cat and realize you can get back into bed for another three or four hours

When cats wiggle their butts before they pounce

When you bring home a new kind of cat food, and your cat actually likes it!

When you buy your cat a new toy, and she actually plays with it!

When you see your cat sleeping in a pool of sunlight

When your cat gives you the heavy-lidded look of I love you soooooooooo much…

When your cat stands on his hind legs like a meerkat

When your cat gets into a life-and-death battle with a piece of lint

When your cat puts two paws on your chest and very sweetly